


Give A Cheer (For All The Broken)

by bubblyNightmare



Series: Death's Little Marching Band [1]
Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Astral Plane, Black Parade Era, Family Shenanigans, I watched the video too many times, M/M, Necromancy, Revenge Era, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-21
Updated: 2015-10-21
Packaged: 2018-03-21 14:21:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3695579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubblyNightmare/pseuds/bubblyNightmare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all begins with Mikey's soul being sucked out of his body by the monstrosity known as Frank Iero.</p>
<p>(In which the Way brothers are Walkers, Frank is a Necromancer, and Ray is there to clean up their messes)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THIS WORK HAS BEEN EDITED: 1 (ONE) TIME</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give A Cheer (For All The Broken)

**Author's Note:**

> First posted fanfic for this fandom. Please be gentle.
> 
>  
> 
> EDIT: Thanks to Go0se for amazing comments that helped me fix some major stuff in my writing. After six months, I deliver.

Gerard would never get used to the astral plane. It's not that his home town didn't have its share of dead bodies. It's just that they had the habit of staying, you know, dead. Whereas here, in this place Gerard and his brother Mikey liked to call Ghostville, the dead roamed free. It was also as cold as somewhere untouched by the sun could be, and snow fell constantly over the deserted buildings. 

The spirits here wore all kinds of clothes, from different time periods, all black with the buttons and other details in shades of silver and white. Bone white masks covered their faces, reflecting the always-dim moonlight. They walked around without a definite sense of direction, stopping at random intervals to watch other spirits go through this same routine of wandering. Time was meaningless for them, and Gerard had to watch out, so he wouldn’t get lost inside his head with them and starve his real body. 

Sometimes, some of the gray specks on the spirits clothes turned out to be blood. This was more common with the older ghosts in army uniforms and serious moustaches, but now and then someone in normal clothes would pop up with silvery splatters all over them. These were the most quiet and the other spirits would leave them alone instinctively. 

Mikey’s eyebrows had barely twitched the first time a hulking spirit lifted his shirt to show him the knife strikes that ended his life. (Gerard knew deep down his brother was impressed. The translucid guts poking out of that guy’s belly were too awesome not to). 

All in all, from what the Way brothers had observed, the ghosts’ alignment was true neutral. Well, except for a few that were 'too weird not to be chaotic'.

This woman with a gas mask that had been following him for the last couple of hours, for example. She was a permanent feature of Ghostville, being there long before Gerard and his brother had stumbled upon it years ago. All the other ghosts seemed to respect her, making way wherever she passed. Gerard had no idea why though, she looked just like the other ghosts as she waltzed down the streets in her spooky ball dress being weird. Unless she was this world’s version of a Mad Queen, which, considering that whenever another spirit approached her she spinned and let out a high-pitched scream, wasn’t that much of a stretch. 

Gerard wasn't worried about being attacked by a crazy monarch lady though. The spirits knew better than to touch a Walker.

Usually, one would enter “Ghostville” after their (mostly gruesome) death, or some kind of permanent comatose state. Walkers are an exception to this rule: They get to pass through the Dark Gates with a simple push of the mind, and they walk around the Dead Cities as if taking a stroll in the park. If an average soul accidently (or not) passes through the Gates they are dead. It starts with an unsettled stomach and ends with a hole where one’s abdomen should be. Interesting enough, the soul doesn’t stay in Ghostville: it’s punishment is total oblivion. The only things Walkers suffer is a slight change of costume during the trip and a few surprises every now and then.

Gerard had always known he and Mikey weren’t like anyone else in their shitty small town, and he was both melancholic and triumphant when he found Elena’s life changing letter and piles of old, handwritten books after she passed away. Gerard had spent many days in his bed, staring at the slightly crumpled pages describing bloodlines, rituals, and duties of their own breed of freaky abominations. He’d traced his fingers over the sketches of now known spirit buddies, grinning as he worked himself over not yet formed conversations about the meaning of life in death.

Mikey had not been as excited as when he found out about his grandma keeping this big a secret from them. He and Gerard had been very close to Elena when growing up and, although his face gave nothing away, Gerard knew he was sulking. It was only after weeks and weeks of Gerard egging his little brother about spooky alter dimensions (and being pushed away every time by a kick or an elbow to the face), for Mikey to sigh and drop on Gerard’s bed demanding a full research so they didn’t wake up dead or summon the devil on their first day. 

Gerard had blown him a kiss and given him access to his computer, promising Mikey he wasn’t making a mistake and that all their hard work would be worth it in the end. Mikey just gave him The Look and typed “astral projection” in the browser’s search engine.

Gerard had made good on his promise. It was worth it. It’s worth every time his reflection shows up foggy and wrong in the mirror, and every time he wakes up to the taste of blood. It’s worth it. Seeing Death and walking away alive, knowing things that many would kill or die for. It’s worth it. They had signed this metaphorical deal knowing there’d be side effects. 

What they hadn’t signed up for was Mikey disappearing in flakes of snow and flashes of light for no apparent reason.

So saying Gerard felt guilty was a bit of an understatement. Gerard had pulled Mikey into this Walker Between Planes business. So yes, he felt guilty for ever involving Mikey. He felt disappointed at himself for not taking care of Mikey as he should. He felt angry at Mikey for even needing to be taken care of in the first place. And he heard that not so tiny voice in his head whispering the dreaded words: what if. But above all that noise was the certainty that he had to get his brother back. No matter what the cost.

The woman with the gas mask was still following him around. Gerard had searched every nook and cranny of the Ghost city and found no trace of his little brother. At this rate… He stopped dead in his tracks. He looked down at his clenched fists and dragged one hand across his face, sighing. He couldn’t think with her staring at him like that. He needed her to go away.

It was never wise to pick up a fight with a spirit, but Gerard only needed to annoy her enough for her to leave. He tried to replay any conversations he might have had with her before, trying to find a topic that would maybe offend her, but came up with nothing. He’d never talked to her before. When he remembered why, he laughed silently to himself and turned his face to the spirit with a syrup sweet smile. “Hey there, honey.”  
The expected ear-shattering screams didn’t happen, although she did spin. But it wasn’t the spin of a mad woman. She seemed almost bashful, somehow. As though she finally had the attention she wanted and didn’t know what to do with it. Gerard let out a mental groan. Of all the days, she had to choose today to want to talk. 

After a final spin, she stopped, and it seemed like everything stopped with her. All was quiet and every spirit in the busy avenue seemed interested in what she had to say, if the way they stared at her unmoving form was any hint. Maybe they were curious to know what her voice sounded like. Gerard would be too, but he was too busy gritting his teeth to feel anything but frustration.

Then it happened. The wind picked up, and a soft, melodic voice resonated through Gerard’s skull. “You will not find who you seek here in this plane, Walker. The Beacon is with him and only the Beacon can give him back. Find the Beacon so that you may find the other Walker. And perhaps, with him, you may find yourself as well.” Then she was gone. Not in the ‘poof, she disappeared’ kind of gone, more like ‘excuse me, I’m leaving while everyone is still processing the bomb I just dropped’ kind of gone.

Gerard was quiet for a long time after that. Besides being shady as fuck, the masked woman and her message weren’t really cryptic. Some asshole on Earth just kidnapped his little brother from another plane like it was Christmas and said asshole was reverse Santa. But Mikey probably wasn’t waiting for Gerard under a Pine tree, muttering to himself about the prickle of the leaves.

No, if someone was able to move a Walker by force when said Walker wasn’t even in the same plane as them, then Gerard might be dealing with someone even more powerful than himself. And that person probably didn’t kidnap other powerful beings so they could chat over tea. A direct confront was, in no ways, advised. 

But that didn’t stop this Way from forcing his mortal eyes open and screaming till his throat was raw, his eyes red from unshed tears. His little brother was gone, stolen. The ‘Beacon’ had left no note, no hint of his presence. Gerard’s curtains were still in their place, hiding him from the light. Comics, shirts, hoodies, and jeans weared down from constant use were strew across the floor as was the usual.  
Gerard tried to control his breath, his mind a whirlwind of thoughts and instinct. There was no sign of Mikey ever being in his room. No dip in the mattress or nerdy glasses to account for. But bodies didn’t disappear into thin air like that in Normalville, and Gerard was pretty sure Mikey had been lying side-by-side to him when they had crossed over. 

Gerard shuffled around, freeing himself from his sweaty bed sheets. He got out of bed, swearing and heading in the direction of Elena’s book pile. There was bound to have some sort of information about mysterious soul and body combo snatchers. And if didn’t, well. Gerard eyed his trusty metal baseball bat. There were other ways.

**Author's Note:**

> And somewhere else Frank wonders why he's suddenly got the chills...
> 
> Comments are always welcome. Give me your worse. Please.
> 
> EDIT: I'll try to update at least once a month from now on (high school is finally over! yay!!)


End file.
